Description of scanning strategy:

• Surveillance (SUR) scans swept 360 degrees of azimuth at an elevation of 0.5 degrees roughly every 20 minutes for the duration of field operations.
• Most of the radar time was spent performing Plan Position Indicator (PPI) scans in 120 deg sectors, stepping up in elevation so as to top the cloud fields in the sector.
• Range Height Indicator (RHI) scans targeted select features, such as the "cloud tail" frequently observed downwind of Barbuda.

Preliminary analysis at UCLA has focused on quantifying surface rain rates using filtered surveillance scan, and other data. An example of this analysis is shown on the left where a sample unfiltered and filtered surveillance scan is shown as well as a rain-rate time-series showing rain rates and echo coverage from the S-Pol data, with estimates from TRMM, GPCP and surface measurements at Barbuda superimposed. This analysis is preliminary and will be revised, but for those interested in getting a feel for the preliminary data, it is provided here. The analysis of this preliminary data set has been conducted by Louise Nuijens and is described in her master thesis. TRMM overpass times are listed here.

In some cases the circles appear to terminate a few seconds shy of 1800s, which means that the end points of each circle should be examined critically if velocity data (which is sensitive to sharp changes in pitch and roll) is to be used along a circle.

Radar Links

• EOL SPolKa site.
• Data Catalog of browsable images maintained by JOSS.

Disclaimer: These data are a preliminary research product and subject to change. Although our ongoing syntheses are made available to all, we ask that their use be coordinated with the PI and Ms. Louise Nuijens. The original data from which these syntheses have been constructed are the authoritative data set and are publically available on the RICO archive.